Filipinos, especially the celebrities and politicians may not be aware of this, but every time they wear their tuxedo and appear in public, they are insulting our culture and indirectly, our country.
Watch Congress deliberate and you see congressmen and senators flaunting their tuxedo. We can also see artists perform on stage or for television audience wearing tuxedo when the part they play or the program as a whole does not call for it. Manny Pacquiao wore a tuxedo during his press conferences for his fight with Oscar De la Hoya, and during his birthday.
Surely, these people know that Barong Tagalog is our national costume. That fact is taught in school during the elementary years.
Why do we wear the costume of other people when we have our own? A barong made of piña designed by one of our country's reputable designers is as expensive as the expensive tuxedo.
We should wear our barong instead of the tuxedo because: 1. barong is suited for our climate; 2. barong is elegant, unique, graceful, and beautiful; 3. wearing barong is an expression of our love for our country and culture; 4. buying barong helps the Philippine barong industry.
Although this practice must not necessarily start with the "important" people, they should lead it.
Let us make it our new year's resolution to wear our barong.
No comments:
Post a Comment